


split three ways

by KingdomOfThieves



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Light Angst, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 09:01:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18775105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingdomOfThieves/pseuds/KingdomOfThieves
Summary: “take care of her.”it was the most painful thing he'd ever saidshort riku pov fic because my boy is so full of jealousy and regret





	split three ways

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this late july 2015 and posted it on tumblr, but now i'm here!!  
> enjoy me punching myself in the face :>

_“Take care of her.”_

It hurt him so deeply to say the words. More than when he’d first found her, limp and lifeless eyes. More than having his heart taken over by the gnawing abyss, and having to fight against it so she could have a chance to escape. More than anything he could ever describe in his lifetime. Sure, he had always been the attractively aloof boy with a tongue as silver and sharp as his hair, but that was just it. Girls would giggle and guys would look on with silent respect, but aloof did not earn him much attention besides that, least of all from the girl Riku was in love with. Sora was the kind of guy you would fall for: a never-ending ball of warm energy, with a smile and endearing charm that drew people to him all his life. Riku would never understand why  _he_  was the one Sora picked to be friends with, but it happened, and it was like second nature to be around him, as though it were destiny knitting them into each other’s hearts. They were as close as friends could be, and with that came friendly competition that escalated year after year, reaching a peak when Kairi showed up. She had clicked into place with the two of them and Riku hadn’t even realized there was an opening, but _goodness_ he was glad there had been. A puzzle of three pieces, falling into order, inseparable. Until...

He had messed up. Why had he been such a fool? No, not a fool, a  _child_. Childish jealousy had driven him to rip his home to shreds, turn his back on all he knew, to hurt people. Riku couldn’t even say he had done it for her, because in reality, it was an act of spite. He had fallen for Kairi so hard, but her smile was always bigger when directed at Sora. These two lights on his horizon, sea and sky reflecting off each other until it was blinding. And he, the lonely island, reaching to touch them. Contempt grew in his heart like a disease, slowly driving a wedge between him and the best things in his life, and then  _he_  had been the one to let that crack turn into a crevasse. He almost lost them both. He had almost lost himself.  _Stupid_. 

He found her, but not all of her, and in the end, Sora had been able to return her heart when he could not. It was Sora’s name rolling off her lips when her eyes first opened, not Riku’s.  _Sora_  that she so vehemently proclaimed to not let go of. Then he fought with all his strength to buy her a few precious moments, wishing desperately that when he said to run, she would stay. Wishing she’d fight for him too, but she hadn’t, and he didn’t blame her. What was there left to fight for? He was a ghost in someone else’s body now. Perhaps he had always been a ghost.

_“Take care of her.”_

  
Whatever shriveled hunk of heart he had left was shattering. There was one chance to fix things, and the door of opportunity was closing fast. He had to let her go, to let Sora go. To wriggle from jealousy’s grasp long enough that he could do the right thing; placing his trust in Sora, believe in the love that they all shared for each other, with no guarantee that he’d ever see them again. In fact, he firmly believed that this was the end, and that was for the best. As much as it pained him to admit it, she was better off with Sora. At least now he wouldn’t be in the way of their destiny, and he could be remembered by this one good deed.

How were you supposed to split a paopu three ways anyhow.


End file.
